The comedy City Island was one of the most refreshing success stories to come out of last year's Tribeca Film Festival, and Andy Garcia was one of the most refreshing success stories to come out of City Island. The 53-year-old actor delivers a revelatory performance as Vincent Rizzo, a corrections officer (and privately aspiring actor) who takes an interest in a soon-to-be-discharged prison inmate (Steven Strait) he'll eventually set up at his house on the titular island just off the Bronx. Trouble arises as his high-strung wife (Julianna Margulies), college-age daughter (Dominik Garcia-Lorido) and smart-ass son (Ezra Miller) suspect something is up between the two -- even as they scramble to hide secrets and desires of their own. Writer-director Raymond De Felitta steers the ensuing meltdown from farce to drama to dark comedy and back again, with Garcia's conscience navigating closely alongside.
As even the actor alluded to Movieline earlier this week, it might seems odd City Island (which opens Friday) works at all. And that was just the start of our own winding chat from City Island to The Godfather to his upcoming directing effort with Anthony Hopkins, Hemingway and Fuentes.
This film really surprised me. It's like secrets on steroids or something.
Hold on. [Off phone] Write this down, Adam: "Secrets on steroids." [On phone] We're gonna use that.
Aww. You're just saying that. What got you involved with the project?
The director sent me the script through a mutual agent; we're both represented by Paradigm. My agent called and said, "I read the script. I think it's fantastic. I think you'll really love. He said he'd like you to play the part and produce it if you want with him." I said, "OK." I read it and was completely charmed by it.
What charmed you?
Well, the construction, the comedy, the humanity in it... It was hilarious, but there were no jokes in it! It was just a situational, farcical, comedy of errors with this emotional reality that made you laugh and, in the end, made you cry. I thought it was a beautifully written piece. Not only that, but I was stimulated by it -- all these ideas started coming to me. "What if we do this? What if we do that?" You know you're really stimulated when your mind is going, "Whoaaa." That's how you know that you're already working. Your creative process is already working
You have an audition scene here which is pretty amazing: An actor playing an aspiring actor in a scene within a scene, rotating in and out of character. The roles and personalities are just piled on. How did you approach that scene?
The scene was very well-written, you know? And Raymond's philosophy is that he knows I have an improvisational background, so he encouraged me. He always said, "Do your thing; go wherever you need to go." But the scene was brilliantly written. Of course there are always ideas actors bring to the table, but the script was a gem. The only thing that we took out of that scene that was originally in that scene was that my character had this [dream] to be an actor. And he's a correctional officer, and in his office at the prison, he had these posters of The Godfather and Scorsese and De Niro and Brando and all these movie posters. And I said to Raymond: "First of all, Ray, I don;t think he's gonna have posters up. I think he's too embarrassed. You've established a guy who's embarrassed and insecure; he wouldn't have posters on the wall. Especially in a prison; he doesn't want anyone to know what he was doing.
Secondly I think we should focus this and just make it Brando. Brando is the guy he's obsessed with. Then we can layer in this thing where my son finds my Brando tapes, and the audience knows all this. And the reason why is that in the audition, when he finally has to read, he's so nervous that the only thing he thinks is good acting -- without even knowing he's doing it -- is an imitation of Marlon Brando." And Raymond said "What?" So I did it for him and he started laughing. So we put that in there. But the rest of the scene was all there. It was just a beautifully written set piece. And the whole conceit of going there with like 600 people in line was like a little Jacques Tati homage in there. Every time I read it, I was like, "Oh my God." That's why you commit to it as a producer, too, because it's like a marriage you commit to getting off the ground. You want to get it off the ground.
You'd acted with your daughter Dominik before, of course, but how did your relationship inform that of Vince and his daughter Vivian?
Oh, completely. As an actor you bring all your personal relationships to the roles; you try to find the parallels in it. In this case we're father and daughter in the movie and father and daughter in real life. When I'm looking at her I'm looking at her as Vince Rizzo, but our relationship is always informing the relationship in the movie. But when we're sitting across the dining room table, for example, we're actors tapping into our own personal life -- and also the life of the characters. It all becomes one at that point.
Vince has to come to terms with her womanhood, though, which he has a hard time doing. How does Andy Garcia tap into that?
Well, you know, it's a natural thing for fathers to be protective of their children. Also, it's just like the old cliche: Who's the guy knocking at the door? You know what I mean? My daughter's growing up, she's not a little girl anymore, and who's this guy coming to knock on the door? Is he trustworthy? It's an old cliche because it's true. If you have children you'll know. Or, in the experience of having my first boy, who are those boys he's hanging around with? Are they gonna influence him the wrong way?
I was reading you didn't want to watch her scenes in the strip club?
Enh, that gets blown out of proportion. She wasn't stripping, she was pole dancing. But the conceit was, "How do you feel about it?" Well, first, it's a PG-13 movie. It's done with reserve. I totally trust my daughter handle those situations in the way she needs or wants to handle them. It wasn't a scene where I should have been there because... I can only articulate how she feels: "I don't want you there. You're my father in the movie, you have no business being in that strip club. You're just going to spoil that reality for me as my father -- and as Vince Rizzo." So why be there? Why spoil that world of imagination she's creating for herself by seeing me off-camera?
Veering away for a second: We're 20 years on from The Godfather Part III, which occupies kind of a weird place in history. Coppola mentioned last year that The Godfather maybe never should have had sequels. What's your take on how it's perceived two decades later -- both culturally and personally?
I can tell you one thing: I mean, for myself, it was a great blessing and a great honor to be in that series and to work with Francis and Al and Diane and the people involved in that movie. The Godfather was a movie that had a great inspiration in my life. It was one of the reasons I wanted to become an actor -- just because of that movie. But really as a movie, not because of all the actors in the movie. I wanted to be in that world, to achieve that with my life, you know? The fact that that dream became a very practical reality was a great blessing and a great honor for me.
And to me, people perceive that movie only in positive ways. I've never received anything negative from The Godfather Part III anywhere in the world. If anything, on a daily basis, anywhere I go in my life, I get, "Hey, man, when's Godfather IV?" So there's an appetite for another one. Whether Francis has it or not is a totally different story. But in terms of the people out there? They want to see another one, as far as I can see. Seriously, there's not a day in my life... "Andy, when's Godfather IV? Let's go! Let's go! Let's get if off the ground!" And I just say: "I'll do it if Francis will do it. I'm not in control of that decision, you know what I mean?"
Have you ever brought that up with Coppola?
Well, there was a time when it was brewing. Initially there was an idea of doing one with two parallel stories -- one follows a contemporary version of my character, and then one in the '30s. Francis wanted Mario Puzo to write one, and it began to come together. I suggested Leonardo DiCaprio might be the right age -- at that time -- for Sonny, and it started gathering some momentum. So Francis said, "OK, let's commission a script." But Mario Puzo passed away, and all that energy fell away. And that was years ago -- at least 10 years ago. So it's really a Francis thing. It's something that he would have to revisit. I don't think anyone else can direct that film. I certainly would jump at the chance to do it with him. Are you kidding? It's Francis Ford Coppola! When Zeus calls, you gotta show up.
Speaking of directing, what's happening with your project Hemingway and Fuentes? Are you still planing that with Anthony Hopkins?
Yes. Right now I'm in the financing mode. It's an independent film, but the budget's a a little bit larger than sometimes independent films can muster. So I'm still in that struggle, but hopefully I can talk to you in the near future about how you liked the film.